——"Proverbs of the Holy Atonement Lord Chapter 233"
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Successful religions like to build their headquarters on mountains.
"City on a hill" gives you a sense of majesty and worship when you hear it.
The same is true for the holy city [Vatican],
But it’s not just that,
This large city is composed of upper and lower parts and inner and outer parts.
Everyone who knows about the mountain knows it, so I won’t go into details.
If you look at it from the air, you will see thousands of rivers crisscrossing the mountain in all directions around the mountain.
Numerous small towns, villages, farmland, and workshops are all built near the water, and boats can be seen everywhere.
An inappropriate analogy: it looks a bit like the water city "Venice" on the blue planet of Terra.
Pilgrims from other parts of the Kingdom of Spain - often nobles of all sizes, relatively wealthy businessmen, local monks from different dioceses, adventurers who believe in the Holy Lord of Atonement - if they want to enter the inner city on the mountain
,
To go to see His Majesty the Holy See or kneel down to worship the Holy Tree of [Three-Character Festival], in terms of the process, they need to stay in the outer city for a few days first.
Waiting for the Holy City's inner court to complete the review and confirm that the pilgrims can "enter the kingdom of heaven on earth",
Then,
Pilgrims who passed the inspection,
You will receive a customs clearance document,
It will tell the pilgrim, "You are allowed to live in the inner city for a maximum of x days.",
x is usually a number between 7 and 30, based on the pilgrim's status, wealth, piety, and other factors, and is determined by the Imperial Court during the review.
The kingdom of heaven on earth must also have a [customs].
Therefore, pilgrims are usually the nobles and nobles of the Kingdom of Spain, wealthy merchants, monks from various dioceses, and devout adventurers - missing some of the most ordinary people, right?
In various feudal territories, ordinary freedmen and serfs had no capital, no status, and no hope of going to the holy city [Vatican] for pious pilgrimage. The monasteries and chapels in the territories were the grassroots of the church that they could have normal contact with.
How did you say that?
"How many people want to kneel down but don't have the skills to do so!"
Therefore, on both sides of thousands of rivers around the foot of the mountain, in addition to farmland, workshops, and villages, there are also many prosperous small towns.
The business and services in the town were born for pilgrims coming from afar...
Oh no, at the same time, it can also serve the industrial chain created by the farmers in nearby villages - they are the majority of the people.
Of course, anyone with a discerning eye can see that pilgrims have obviously stronger spending power.
Just like other religions on Terra Blue Planet, since there is an industrial chain under the mountain, the church must manage the surrounding industries.
The territory where Vatican is located has no lord.
Back then, as the final winner of the feudal nobles' chicken-eating contest, the founding hero of Spain "tributed" this piece of land to the Holy Lord of Atonement.
In order to thank the [Sin Eaters] (the self-proclaimed monks before the establishment of the church) for their important contributions in the chicken competition - assisting His Majesty the King in exterminating various heresies and demons in Spain and stabilizing social security across the country.
——It is logical that as the material wealth of the Atoning Lord in the human world, this territory is 'managed' by the church.
To a certain extent, this "Venetian" town outside the holy city [Vatican],
It may be the safest place in the entire Kingdom of Spain, except for the royal capital [Madele].
Most members of the Crusaders live in this area.
Little knowledge: In an era when productivity is underdeveloped, "wilderness" is the norm.
Unlike the era after the Industrial Revolution, villages and villages, cities and cities, and both sides of the roads connecting large settlements were more or less inhabited, but the number varied.
In an era when productivity was underdeveloped, leaving settlements meant that "except for roads, only nature remained."
In this remote and remote world of low magic, 'wilderness' is equivalent to 'unknown risk'.
Ferocious beasts are not even considered risk threats.
Well, let’s deduce it in a logical way:
In a fantasy story, the protagonists are walking on the road between towns, surrounded by no one.
At this time, the plot that readers most want to see is——
a. A group of wild wolves jumped out and besieged the protagonist group
b. A group of bandits jumped out and robbed the protagonist group
c. A succubus jumped out and attacked the protagonist group at night
Most readers want to see plot c, right?
Then proceed logically,
After a thrilling and thrilling battle, surrounded by dangers, almost destroying the team, and raising blood pressure, the protagonist team defeated this enemy.
Then, readers in their right mind will inevitably think about a question,
"Which corner did this enemy come from?"
According to some ineffable stereotype, there are generally three answers to this question:
a. There is a portal nearby, and this enemy came from another world (heavenly drop type)
b. There is a dungeon nearby, and this enemy sneaked out from the dungeon (royal system)
c. There is a mage tower nearby, and this enemy was summoned by a thirty-year-old archmage who is still single (post-modern system)
Well, the setting of the King's Dao system is the most classic paradigm. Let's continue the deduction using answer b as an example.
Therefore, the setting is considered to be a ‘dungeon’ – it can also be called an ‘ancient ruins’
or ‘Demon King’s Castle’
or 'Dragon Cave'
——A certain mysterious place that specializes in producing "bad and bad enemies" is an objective existence in the world of fantasy stories.
So, let's take the question one step further,
Will the number of ‘dungeons’ increase or decrease?
If this fantasy world can [spiral and develop gradually] - the pace of the times will never stop - then the answer should be,
There will be less and less.
The low-demon world that Li Jiasu currently lives in has reached a subtle crossroads in its time.
As mentioned earlier, this "Venetian" town outside the holy city [Vatican] is probably the safest place in the entire Kingdom of Spain, except for the royal capital [Madele].
Because, within a radius of 40 kilometers,
Almost all ‘dungeons’,
In the past hundreds of years, they have been destroyed by the Crusaders!
Quantitative changes bring qualitative changes,
History only advances, never retreats.
Let’s talk about the [development] story of [Holy Atonement] Church.
Hundreds of years ago, at the beginning of the establishment of the Kingdom of Spain,
A group of monks named [Sin Eaters] received resources and manpower donated by the feudal royal court, built the first religious castle on this mountain, and established the first church.
There are only a few thousand people,
A group of monks (about a hundred people, all of whom are extraordinary),
Devout soldiers (about 400 people, ordinary soldiers who came into contact with the faith of [Holy Atonement Lord] in the earlier feudal warlord chicken competition. After the establishment of the kingdom, these ordinary soldiers decided to leave the army and follow the monk group),
As well as the serfs and craftsmen given by the founding heroes of Spain,
These people formed the original church.
With the support of the feudal royal court, the monks preached in the lands of various lords, cultivated more believers and monks, and assisted the lords in 'managing' the people.
More and more people identify with [Holy Atonement Lord].
Because compared with their own lords, the people feel that the monks are more reliable:
‘He can tell the story of “God loves the world” to us idiots, he can defeat evil monsters, he can use the “Proverbs and Principles” of [The Atoning Lord] to resolve conflicts between neighbors, and he can occasionally make the lord feel embarrassed.’
It’s not because you have faith that you gain benefits.
Rather, you believe because of the benefits you get.
In short, the silent majority votes with their feet.
Hundreds of years have passed,
The lords realized it later and suddenly came to their senses.
'Hey, why do the citizens seem to be more willing to listen to the church than to listen to me, Master?'
'No, I have to talk to the church.'
Some monks said that we just followed the will of the [Holy Lord of Atonement] and did what we should do.
Another group of monks said, Lord, if you can be more pious, we can make the people obey you again.
The lord asked: 'How can I be more pious?'
Another group of monks said, Sir, you have given a small part of the right to collect taxes to the church.
In this way, the "original sin of greed" in you will be 'borne' by us.
The lord thought about it and thought it was reasonable.
As a result, the church can collect tithes openly and openly - the secular lords promised to allow it and revised the laws of the kingdom - which is beneficial to the church.
The church can collect taxes,
Various churches, monasteries, and holy city headquarters gradually accumulated their own fund pools.
The monks' salaries were increased,
Daily missionary activities are fully funded,
The chapel can become more beautiful and beautiful.
Many monks began to unconsciously change their preaching strategies:
In order to continue to 'legally' hold the right to "collect tithes",
The lords must be satisfied.
Another hundred years have passed by,
The holy city on the mountain is becoming more and more beautiful, and the life of the lord is becoming more and more comfortable.
The citizens had a vague feeling that something was not quite right.
Of course, this ‘feeling’ takes a long, long time to accumulate.
The time has not come yet, the mud-legged people have not yet changed quantitatively, so they cannot change qualitatively.
But for the church, the moment of quantitative change to qualitative change is imminent.
Hundreds of years passed,
The current holy city [Vatican] and the original "city on the hill" are obviously two different cities.
Because there is no lord, the city has attracted generations of people over the past hundreds of years.
Some may have a wealthy family, some may have a skill, some may be on the run, or some may pursue their faith,
All kinds of [outstanding talents] (ordinary farmers in the feudal era could hardly leave their original rural land),
Immigrants settled at the foot of the Holy City.
On the other hand, the original group of serfs and their prolific descendants numbered about 70,000 people. The church, which had become rich, pardoned the serf status of these descendants of "loyal believers" and allowed them to become yeoman farmers.
You know, the 70,000 free people are nine times the number of permanent residents in the city of Gus and half the number of permanent residents in the royal capital of Spain [Madelei].
In addition, the per capita half-step extraordinary Crusaders (thousands of people),
In addition, all the "underground cities" within a radius of 40 kilometers have been swept away, making it very safe and suitable for development.
Haha, it can be said to be a [country within a country], the kind that develops particularly well.
It's no wonder that this generation of Spanish kings and three grand dukes couldn't bear it anymore.